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The Reserve battery. (Cleveland, Ohio), 1848-10-26

The Reserve battery. (Cleveland, Ohio), 1848-10-26 page 1

Opinion of lewlilUH, Resolved, That the foustitution does noiconler up-in the Ueneral Government the 1'Owkr to commence and carry oiinneiieriiiytiuol iulrfla((Mrii nt. UaUimurt Convention Jtesotnlione. "I hnvecarefidly renrl the Resolutions of the Democratic National f'onveutioii, M V1NU i'OWN TIIK F "vi'?ltM OK OUK I'UI.ITICAI, FAITH, AJVIJ I ADIIl'.KK TO TilKM AS FIUMJ.Y AM I Al'-I'RUV HOF TU KM C'OKWALLY. Lcku Caee. Ettratt from address to Lewis Ois by Jo nun Wood ".Sir, permit me on thin occasion to call your atteu-tciitiuu to the fact that our politicul opponents declare that iu a'e opposr.d to the improvement of our H eetern Hirers aud Harbors. " "it may not he improper for ine,Str,to allude to one more topic, which Is. escially to this immediate dis-Uict a topic of the deepest Intercst-I refer to the in-SuittoVof slavery. We are fold. sir, that should you s"c e he election to the Presidency ot the United Hiatca, your administration would lend its influence to the extension mid perpetuation 01 human slavery. The people here assembled will with the greatest pleasure now listen to any communication, winch, sir, it may he yo.ir pleasure to submit.' Extract from reply of Lkwih Cam. Sir, the noise and confnsion which pe.vndes this assembly will prevent my being heard on the Injpor-taiii Cic "o which sou have called u,y attention." "iZ e vouhuve all read the letter which 1 addressed to "the National Democratic ( onvenlion declared that to he the close of my political projetnor-s." 'There is now before you a severe coldest: but the orosnectUacheeriiiaoiie. Go on. on 1 our triumph win be an approval of the course of the present admin. ZtroUol and Ml give direction to the one ichich sha ccced.'' VOL. I. From the Providence Journal. lathe Freemen of tlo State of Uliuile lolitlid. Fellow-Citi7.kks : Munv of you remember the brilliant and eloquent speech of Mr. Choate iinon tlie subiectof the approacliing Presiden tial election, published iu most of our leading ' "lVlr. Choate was a member of tho Philadel phia Convention, which nominated Gen. Taylor, and the part ofthc speech to which I would respectfully invite your attention, id this : " Sir, the truth of the matter is, that they who criticise the proceedings of lliat convention tor-get one great thing: that the Philadelphia Con vention was, at last, essentially a ratif ying Con veiilion: and that was ail, sir. The people nominated Gen. Taylor long le-re the sittiiis of the Philadelphia Convention. for The people were beforehand with the politicians This, in my judgment, is a great and leading fact, which oiiirht to be kept constantly in view. Mv own more limited knowledge had long since broutflit me to the same conclusion, and I have for a long time indulged tho hope, that at last one President might oe seioctea oy me people, and not by interested party politicians. J hat nope was iounueu u'uu me luiiuwuig anions' numerous other facts. 1 have lor number of years past made somo efforts, while at Washington, to induce influential men to nominate John McLean, of Ohio, an indepen dent, high-minded and strictly moral man. failed in inv feeble efforts in 1844. In the winter of 1S46-7 I called upon a high ly influential Representative from Virginia for his opinion of the probable success ot my ta-vorite candidate. 1 was surprised at his reply. Without remembering the precise words, it was this: "Sir. in mv opinion the question is already settled in Virginia. The common class of people, without distinction of party, have thrown up t'- eir hats for Gen. Taylor, and tlieir choice will prevail." Mr. Whittlesey, of Ohio, was present and took a part in this conversation. Judge McLean was nlo his favorite candidate. In tho winter of 1847-9, I met at different times a number of gentlemen, of both political parties, from Kentucky. Most ot them, 1 believe, wure farmers, ilv them I was informed that a meeting of the freeholders of one ol thetr counties, upon county attairs, where men ol various political opinions were assembled, the question of a candidule for the Presidency wus discussed, alter trie ousiness wuicn urougni tlieui together had been finished. Gen. Taylor, formerly an inhabitant of that county was, named. Something was said about his politi cal opinions, but it was finally agreed, unanimously, that Gen. Taylor stood so high in their esteem, us an honest and independent man, that they would all go lorhini, without regard tohn pulitical opinions, and he was accordingly named us their candidate, During the winter of 1817-8. I made pretty general ni(iiiries of military, naval and political men, who had long known him, and what 1 shall snv to you iu relation to tiis qualifications is the result ol information thus acquired. It has been my habit, for the last forty years, upon Presidential elections, to address my brethren of the Whiff party, with whom, upon most important questions of national policy, 1 agree. I shall iiinke no such address on this occasion. I ao not consider that Gen. Taylor is a party candidate. I have strong reasons for believing tlmt the political men of both parties, (many, at least,) would have been glad of a morethorough-going party candidate. He is the candidate ofthc people, and therufnre to the people 1 shall addr'ss myself, presenting to them the maiu results of information derived from many and various sources, and upou which 1 place the most entire reliance. Three candidates are before you, Cass, Van Buren and Taylor. Of the private character of Van Buren aiid Cass 1 know nothing beyond what is known to the whole country. All thai I do know is that they have been office-hunters -for the last forty years, living freely upon the public purse, making, as sucn meti always do, large, very large pret-snsious to patriotism, for the sole purjioso of attaining higher honors and greater rewards. It is said that Cass held three offices at one time, and made very heavy charges for exirn allowance for service during the same period. Whether this be true or not, and if true, what explanation it admits of, I do not pretend to know. his enough fir me to know that Gen. Taylor never took a single step toward the Presidency ; that his frioiuls and neighbors, oi both political parties, were urged by a knowledge of his trunscciidant merits, to make the the nomination: that it was this under-current which compellrd the convention at Philadelphia to abandon all other candidates, and submit to the influence iu favor of Gen. Taylor. By these remarks you will observe that I am opposed, not only to Cass and Van Buren, but to all office hunters, be they of what party they max. By office hunters 1 do by no means embrace all public men, but all, or nearly all the leaders of the two great parties. I have no confidence, not the emallest, in any of them. A common share of moral principle is quite insufficient for a man to start with, who begins political life as a business. There is not one moral constitu-iou in twenty that can stand the inebriating, "Sir. ike minis andconfuiion vades thil ansemoly mil prevent heard on the important topict to kfuim rmlUA nut attention." 1 !. a. . .mi eg - is RESERVE enfeebling atmosphere of politics. In the first place it is only the meanest minds who will condescend to beg at all lor public favors. Did Washington ever descend to this? Did any really great, noble and strictly moral man ever do it? Has Gen. Taylor done it? Ambition is said to be the vice of noble minds. According to my reading and experience it is the vice of the meanest and most degraded minds. Tbe passion, in no part or particle of it, contains any love of (he just, the right and the true. Its whole texture, the warp a. id the woof and every thread, nnd the minutest elemental particles of which tho thread is composed, all, all of it is only an elongation of the selfish principle. The most selfish are the most ambitious, and in nine cases out of ten, the most corrupt. There urs numbers of this description ofjmen attached to both the great political parties that divide the country. One evil of this nature a-rises from the fact that the most selfish and unprincipled of the talented part of the office hunting corps, are generally the most popular with their parties. In fact, we know that through all time, and among all nations, from the Jewish Theocracy down to the present day, the higher classes, the rulers of the people, those whom Mr. Webster calls statesmen, and whom 1 call office hunters, have been composed of the most dissolute, unprincipled and abandoned, of all the different classes of society. Nearly all the agitations and revolutions iu society, proceed from a few cunning and unprincipled politicians. It seems to be according to the order of nature, that usually, if not always, the worst men should rise to the top. The reason that they generally do, is vry obvious. The most selfish are always the most active and vigilant. The men who are urged on by avarice, will become the richest, and the inteiiser the passion for power, the more intense and constant the effort to obtain it. The temptation to corrupt or dishonorable means, is always in proportion to the desire to obtain the end. Among the people of all nations, therefore, iu ancient or modern times, most that is corrupt and base, wicked and oppressive, has proceeded from the upper classes, or men iu power. For the last twenty winters 1 have seen this fullv illu.tlrated iu our own country. The most popular men of the two great parties in Congress, in general, are those who least deserve it. The most deserving, those who perform most of the lacor upon committees, the most worthy men and valuable members, are the least kuown to the public, in other words, the least popular. Upon this subject I desire not to be misun derstood. In the first place, 1 do not mean to apply these remarks, personally, to Cass, Van Buren. or any other individual. In the next pice, in speaking of the nature of the olllce hunting passion, I speak of its tendency and effect upon character. I mean to say til (it the passion itself, being an entirely seifish one, thrives best and grows the lurgest in homogeneous soils, in llie uiuanost and most selfish inniils. It may live and move and show sonio signs of life in the noblest minds. J know several ol the ablest men anion jj the lead ing statesmen, who have lurn shed more or less nutriment to tins passion lor many years. But tliev are unable to descend to the iricks, clap traps and meannesses necessary to make Ilium popular. In general, the most popular men are those who practice the most numerous tricks by which the people are deceived, in general, (he most worthy, strictly honest and reliable among our leaders, are the least talked of and the least thought of. In nine cases out ol ten, it Is the ojjtce hunter, tbe sturdy beggar the man so entirely selfish that he will by, nffor push ofl'eve- ry rival in ms uwu puny, wnu is iiie jjopumr j hero ot his day. Ths reason for expressing an opinion forced upon me by a residence of twenty winters in Wasliingion, is, that two objections are made to Gen. Taylor; one is that he is a military man, and one that he is no statesman. If bv statesman is intended that class of men yearafteryear urging their claims to higher 1 higher hnnnn. or ivhn llu l.nen irrnwinfr I fatt The m uth of the public purse, if l.v i statesman is intended am man who, diiectlyor not, will beg, or ask for ofhce.or allow any of his sons or grandsons to beg in his behalf.then I say that according to m experience of life, such a man is a selfish man, in whom I would notre-pose the least confidence. If such statesmen are intended, I most truly rejoice that Gen. Taylor, is not a statesman. Leading meti upon the political stage are exposed to temptations similar to those which waylay actresses upon tde dramatic stage ; ami 1 see no reason whv the victims should not be as numereus in the one case as the other. But he is a military man. There is no force in this objection unless experience has proved that military men are more likely to hurry a nation into wars than political men. History proves the reverse. Take our own history. The war of 1756, in which as colonies, we were eugaged, was the work of Lord Chatham, a statesman of the highest order. The Revolutionary war of 1776 was the work of the people of the country. The first blow struck in Ilhode-lsland was the capture of the Gaspee by the citizens of Providence.The war of 1812 was made by Mr. Madison and Mr. Clay, and the war of 1845, with Mexico, was made by Mr. Polk, and declared by tekick per which foa Ais' CLEVELAND, OHIO OCTOBER both parties in Congress. The Whigssay they were compelled to vote for it. r'orthe present argument, it is immaterial how that is. Uen. Taylor, a military man, tliovght it an unnecessary war. We have had three Presidents who have been military men Washington, Jackson, md Harrison. Perhaps Monroe ought to be added, We had no war under either, on the contrary, Gen. Jackson, by his firmness, probably prevented a war with France. In despotisms, ivhere the sole power is the reigning despot, a military ambition has sometimes been the sole cause of wars. But in constitutional governments like England and this country, wars can only be carried on by the Representatives of the people. Probably other objections have been urged by officeholders, or those who hope to hold office under Cass or Van Buren. These are all that have come to my knowledge. I will therefore, briefly consider why Gen. Taylor ought to bo elected, without regard to his political optnions. There is no prominent subject which concerns the welfare of the country, which is, or ought to be made for some years to come, the suuject ot dispute between the two great parties of tho day. The question of bank or no bauk has been settled. Gen. Jackson saw further ahead than nearly all the Whigs, and most of his own party. 1 opposed his election, among other things, because I considered a bank an indispensable agent of the Government. The question of internal improvements and of protection of our domestic industry, are questions that can never be settled by political parties. The agilation of them by political parties, will forever prevent the permanent settlement of them. Both are questions of money making. Whether internal improvements shall be paid for by the General Government or the States, is mainly a question of how the payments shall be made, and not by whom they shall be made. In both modes of payment the money must come from the people. My opinion is that the payment devolves upon the General Government, and not upon the Stales. But these improvements never will be made by the General Government until a large portion of the poo-pie of both political parties, so decide. To ii ake it a political question is forever to pre vent the permanent establishment of either policy.I So in regard to the tariff One party favors the free trade, the other the protective principle. My reason for the latter is not that it tends to encourage the increase of manufac tures . It is not a question of manufactories or no manufactories, but a question whether present and future establishments can compete with foreign articles imported at a low duty, and pay the present rates of wages. If they can, we need no tariff. If they cannot they' must either stop and throw a large portion of the labor of ihe country out of employment, or that labor must acquiesce in a much lower rale t l wages. We all know that poor families must work at low wages, if they cannot obtain higher rates. The great object of a high tariff is to enable manufacturers to pay high wages and still make a profit upon their capital. It is a law to keep up the price of wages and the prices of agricultural productions. It is emphatically tlieioorman's law; the law for men who labor, whether at the loom or on the farm. Upon no other grounds and for no other reasons do Congress possess the power to legis late upon the subiecl All the world over the laborers constitute tho most numerous and the most useful class of so ciety. It is eminently the class upon which all other classes djpend. Who produce our food and clothing? Who build our cities, navigate our ships and keep ciril government and society itself in motion? We all agree that it is the middling nnd poorer cln-ses, tho laborers of the country. The more equally the profits of the whole industry ol our country can oe aivioea aillOtltr all the IllOre durable Will be Olir free government. Capital will always protect itself. Whether it increases rapidly or moderately is of very little importance to the pormanenct of a free government. 1 repeat it; it is not the capitalist, or the manufacturer it is the poor man, the laborer, for whom, uloue, such a law can, with any constitutional propriely.be passed. But strange as it may seem, most laborers are against it. The question will never be permanently settled until one policy or the other is thoroughly tried. Al present the free trade principle prevails. Lei us give ii a full and fair trial. Let the laboring part of the community see plainly and clearly that they are the objects of a beneficial protection, and they alone. When they do perceive it, and come to its support, not a politician in a free State will be found to oppose it. The question of free soil is not a party question. The fre States are nearly unanimous upon that abstract question. Some of the democratic members from the Jforlh have gone astray under I know not what influence. But the Whigs have been as true as the most ardent friends of human freedom could wish. Why, then, have the common class of people here and elsewhere forced the members of the Whig Convention to nominate Gen. Taylor? Why did that under current prevail against the partialities and preferences of political men, so BATTERY. 26, 1 848. as to leave them no choice? The answer is plain and obvious. They saw in Geu. Taylor not merely a great and successful General, but a high-minded,straight-forward and honest man, and a true putiiot. More strongly than any other man he presented to their minds the image of Washington. Both present t he same genejal outline of character, and the same mental and physicul training. Both were farmers and worked upon their own lands. Both were from the same old Virginia stock The bones of both seem to have been covered with iron rather than flesh. The presence of mind, coolness, energy of decision and promptuess of action were at the early ages of both brought to perfection by the border wars with ever watchful, cunning and ferocious savages.Both were plain in their maimers and dress, moral and temperate in their habits, exact in their dealings punctual to their engagements, and kind, generous and charitable iu their dispositions.They resemble each other, also, in this not very common habit of mind In all questious of doubt they consulted the ablest counsellors around them, obtaining the united libt of all, and then took the responsibility of deciding themselves. In this particular. Gen. Jackson resembled them both. This caution in forming opinions, and firmness in acting upon them, is a never-failing attribute of great minds. Whv, let me ask again, have the common class of people forced a Whig Convention to noiiiina.e Uen. laylori It was because lhv saw in him qualities th precise opposite of those of the great mass of politicians. Me is a modest, unassuming man. He neither makes long speeches, boasting -of his own patriotism and attachment to the bet interests ot Ihe country, nor any parade ot his valor, but whenever an enemy of his country has been seen upon our border, another savage or civilized, whether in masse as solid and dense as the Persian at Marathon, or as skilful, compact and disciplined as the Freuch at Waterloo, from the time he was a boy of sixteen down to the battle of Bueua Vista, there has Taylor been seen in the front of the battle, infusing into the bosoms of the officers and men who loved him, his own great, glorious and patriotic spirit. ' It was because they saw that he was a religious man; not making large professions, long prayers, wilh a gloomy, austere seventy on the outer man, while avarice, the love of office and display, ruled his whole heart and spirit, but religious in that wide and catholic sense which the whole family of man, civilized and savage, recognise as the great chain through which the beneficent spirit of God is infused into the heart of man. It was because they saw him kind and generous to the poor without ostentation; in the midst of wealth without display; in the midst of peril and danger, alwavs in its front; when worn down with labor aud almost sinking under privation and fatigue, giving up his bed 10 a sick or wounded soldier, and when called to give an account of victories achieved mainly by bis large spirit and patriotic soul, ts his officers and men ascribing all the merit and all tlie praise. It was because the whole body of American people saw in Gen. Taylor a strictly moral man, moral from the instincts of his noble and elevated nature; because they saw that he possessed resolution, a Btrong will, a high and pure intellect every ready to distinguish Ihe right from the wrong. Did you ever see a man who performed fully and without display all these great moral duties, at all times, and under all circumstances, who was not also a man of great intelligence? Accordingly all my information from men oi various political faiths is, that he is a man of strong, direct aud full mind, with much reading, aud extensive information, aud an intuitive knowledge of human churucter. I entirely accord with thi common class of people in their choice. 1 rejoice that they forced the Whig Convention to nominate him. 1 freely co lfess that I f.m delighted with the beauty, the gracefulness, the gigantic strength and entire completeness of his morul nature. All the lower appetites of our nature are held with a grasp which no temptation can loosen, which no human power can overcome. With a large fortune and a favorite of the higher classes, he is the friend, the benefactor, the companion and the advocate of the poor. Surrounded bv influences whicn seldom fail to inflate our vanity, he is plain, modest and unassuming, and apparently unconscious of his own elevated station. Absent from home fur months and years, and courted and flattered by admiration from a source which seldom fails to melt the integrity of ordinary men, he is not onlv a kind and affectionate, but a true and faithlul husband. His word once pledged becomes the law of his action. His consciousness of duty once settled, becomes the compass for his whole voyage of life. While in all tilings he lives up to the strictest rules of a sevore and self-denying morality, ho makes no professions of superior sauctity.uo parade of austere virtue. Neither does he set himself up as the judge of the conduct of others. On the other hand, he is kind, charitab! and generous in the extreme to those whose physical or moral elements are too weak to resist the temptations thus beset our path of life. He is a man, a whole man, and nothing but a Opinion of Zachary Taylor. "I have no private purposes to accomplish no party projects to build up no enemies to punish notbiag tj serve bul my country." " I reiterate what 1 nave often said, lain a Whig, but not an ultra Whig." "The power given by the Constitution to the Eiee-I'tive, to interpose his veto, is a hiuh conservative ower, which should never be exercised esccpt in cases of clear violation of the constitution, or manifest baste and wantof jonsiderution by Congress." 'The personal opinions of the individual who may I nppen to occupy the Executive chair, ought 'not is c ontrol the action of Congress upon questious of dc-i icstie policy.nor ought hisohjeciionsio be interposed hcreuuestions of constitutional power have been ettled by the various departmentsof govcrninent.and rciiuieaeed in by the people." "Upon the subject of the tariff, the currency, the i mprovement of our ureal highw ays, rivers, lakes and .arbors, ihe willofthe people, as expressed through heir Representatives in Congress, ought to be respect-Mi, and carriedujut by the executive.'' "War, at nil times, and under all circumstances, is i national calamity, to be avoided, if eompatiblewith i.iiioual honor. "Tho principles of our government, as w ell ns i .rue policy, are opposed to the subjugation of.othe nations, and the dHincinbermcnt of other countrieshy .ouquest. for, in the language of the (treat Washing mx, 'Whyshould we uuitourown to stand on foreii irround "These are my opin ions upon the subjects referred to by you: and any reimrts or publications, written or ver-from any source, ditrerins in any essential pnrtic-ilar from what is here written, are unauthoi ir.ed and ""rue" I. TAYLOR. NO. 1 5. man. From the soles of his feet to the crown of his head he is covered all over with a pano-ply, which the whole power of his sensual nature cannot break through, nor all th precious slones of the temple of fame, tempt him for a moment to surrender. There he stands almost solitary and alone, among the public men of his age. There is his life, through fortv years of temptation, without a vice. There "are his great deeds, through forty years of heroism and victory, aud there the great conqueror himself, with the humility of a virgin convert of the cross. He is on his way to another countrv, with christian hopes of crowns brighter thau you can bestow, and of rewards more glorious tnau his poor merits deserve. While he remains among us, if the people of his native country call him to new and untried duties, he will set aboul their performance with the ardor that belongs to great minds, and the humHity that belongs to meek spirits. He is bound to no party by previous pledges, he is opposed to no party by previous hostility. '1 hrouch his whole military life he haB fought for his" country and not for popularity. Through his whole political Ire he will labor for the highest interests of the people, and not for the pettv triumphs of a party. A W hig in his principle's, and an Amencau in his heart, it is a matter of indifference by whom he is nominated. All nominations seem to him above his deserts, and all the great duties of that exalted station, above his power of performance. But if his country calls him, he will put his hard and bony shoulder to the wheel loaded with the destinies of this great and brilliant empire. Had this illustrious man chincod to have b en bom upon Grecian laud twoor three centuries before the birth of Christ, and performed for forty years ailhe of the services, bared his bosom in a.teuth part of the battles, gained a -tenth part of the grandeur, self-sacrifice and perfect devotion, which this greatest of all republics, and most christian of all ages, has received al his bands, he would have been wor-shippsd as a patriot and hero.as a god, in every island and promontory of Grecian rule; he would have shone forth to this day, through the long night of intervening barbarism, as one of the great lights of Grecian history. Had it been his fortune to have been born a Roman instead of an American citizen.the same hard life, mild, modest, but humble, toilsome aud laborious virtue, would have secured for him the warmest place iu every Roman heart, the most lofty tiioiiuinenu nt linm.. .,.,. - ....... aud a name aud fame as lastimr as th Hm,,. language itself. But here in this age of Christian iaht ,! knowledge, in this country of practical virtue and lofty patriotism, where the advancing glories of a higher civilization than the sua ever shone upon, are calling forth the admiration of the calm philosophers, the profound statesmen aud the military heroes of every nation of the g.obe, the hero of twenty hard" fought battles and illustrious victories, tbe partaker of the hardest fare with the humblest soldier, the eulogist of every brilliant achievement excent Ina own, the man whom his rivals honor aud respect, and his friends love and admire, is not worthy of out highest mark of gratitude, be. cause to bis other great and rare virtues, he has added that ot an enduring militarv re nown! Is this the sentiment of the American neo- ple? Will it find any favor w ith Rhode Island men? The brilliant achievements of Gen Tax-In r n the field, have brought into view his orexr and noble qualities as a man; his justice and generosity, his temperauce and self-denial, the great and glorious sacrifices made for his couutiy for a period of forty years, and the almost unequalled good sense aud sagacity which has enabled him to maintain a most exact di- iplme through the hearts of the common sol- . iers. All these great and illustrions virtues belong to the mau. They were made known to us through the spleudor of his militarv genius. Will you do me the favor, mv fellow-riti- ens, or some of you, to inform me how the great aud illustrious qualities of Mr. Cass and Mr. V an Uureu have been made known tn us? It would be an aspersioti upon the iroorl sense t.fihose who nominated these gentlemen w oiinuic iuL-.ii ucBLiiuiB oi great ana patriotic qualities. With both I have had a limir. ed and narrow acquaintance for twenty v. and while I most willingly beartesumoiivi'otheir geiille manly deportment and easx" it not flattering manners, yet it has piohably been a concurrence of extraordinary circumstances that has hidden from iny view (although both have been iu office over forty years) their great and patriotic qualities. Gen. Taylor has been in the back woods and swamps and uKn our distant frontier most of his live long life, exposed to the tomahawk and rifle ol the savage, in order to protect us, our families and our property. His great and noble deeds as a man as well as a soldier, have come to us, over thousandsof miles of desert country. The notes in his praise have been swelled out into one grand and sublime harmony, by men of all ranks and grades, by' rich, aud by poor, by officer and by soldier, by"men of all political creeds and all religious proflSs. ions. jo hired advocates, no chartered presses, no hungry expectants, joined in the nni-ve rsal song of praise. It was telegraphed fronj

Opinion of lewlilUH, Resolved, That the foustitution does noiconler up-in the Ueneral Government the 1'Owkr to commence and carry oiinneiieriiiytiuol iulrfla((Mrii nt. UaUimurt Convention Jtesotnlione. "I hnvecarefidly renrl the Resolutions of the Democratic National f'onveutioii, M V1NU i'OWN TIIK F "vi'?ltM OK OUK I'UI.ITICAI, FAITH, AJVIJ I ADIIl'.KK TO TilKM AS FIUMJ.Y AM I Al'-I'RUV HOF TU KM C'OKWALLY. Lcku Caee. Ettratt from address to Lewis Ois by Jo nun Wood ".Sir, permit me on thin occasion to call your atteu-tciitiuu to the fact that our politicul opponents declare that iu a'e opposr.d to the improvement of our H eetern Hirers aud Harbors. " "it may not he improper for ine,Str,to allude to one more topic, which Is. escially to this immediate dis-Uict a topic of the deepest Intercst-I refer to the in-SuittoVof slavery. We are fold. sir, that should you s"c e he election to the Presidency ot the United Hiatca, your administration would lend its influence to the extension mid perpetuation 01 human slavery. The people here assembled will with the greatest pleasure now listen to any communication, winch, sir, it may he yo.ir pleasure to submit.' Extract from reply of Lkwih Cam. Sir, the noise and confnsion which pe.vndes this assembly will prevent my being heard on the Injpor-taiii Cic "o which sou have called u,y attention." "iZ e vouhuve all read the letter which 1 addressed to "the National Democratic ( onvenlion declared that to he the close of my political projetnor-s." 'There is now before you a severe coldest: but the orosnectUacheeriiiaoiie. Go on. on 1 our triumph win be an approval of the course of the present admin. ZtroUol and Ml give direction to the one ichich sha ccced.'' VOL. I. From the Providence Journal. lathe Freemen of tlo State of Uliuile lolitlid. Fellow-Citi7.kks : Munv of you remember the brilliant and eloquent speech of Mr. Choate iinon tlie subiectof the approacliing Presiden tial election, published iu most of our leading ' "lVlr. Choate was a member of tho Philadel phia Convention, which nominated Gen. Taylor, and the part ofthc speech to which I would respectfully invite your attention, id this : " Sir, the truth of the matter is, that they who criticise the proceedings of lliat convention tor-get one great thing: that the Philadelphia Con vention was, at last, essentially a ratif ying Con veiilion: and that was ail, sir. The people nominated Gen. Taylor long le-re the sittiiis of the Philadelphia Convention. for The people were beforehand with the politicians This, in my judgment, is a great and leading fact, which oiiirht to be kept constantly in view. Mv own more limited knowledge had long since broutflit me to the same conclusion, and I have for a long time indulged tho hope, that at last one President might oe seioctea oy me people, and not by interested party politicians. J hat nope was iounueu u'uu me luiiuwuig anions' numerous other facts. 1 have lor number of years past made somo efforts, while at Washington, to induce influential men to nominate John McLean, of Ohio, an indepen dent, high-minded and strictly moral man. failed in inv feeble efforts in 1844. In the winter of 1S46-7 I called upon a high ly influential Representative from Virginia for his opinion of the probable success ot my ta-vorite candidate. 1 was surprised at his reply. Without remembering the precise words, it was this: "Sir. in mv opinion the question is already settled in Virginia. The common class of people, without distinction of party, have thrown up t'- eir hats for Gen. Taylor, and tlieir choice will prevail." Mr. Whittlesey, of Ohio, was present and took a part in this conversation. Judge McLean was nlo his favorite candidate. In tho winter of 1847-9, I met at different times a number of gentlemen, of both political parties, from Kentucky. Most ot them, 1 believe, wure farmers, ilv them I was informed that a meeting of the freeholders of one ol thetr counties, upon county attairs, where men ol various political opinions were assembled, the question of a candidule for the Presidency wus discussed, alter trie ousiness wuicn urougni tlieui together had been finished. Gen. Taylor, formerly an inhabitant of that county was, named. Something was said about his politi cal opinions, but it was finally agreed, unanimously, that Gen. Taylor stood so high in their esteem, us an honest and independent man, that they would all go lorhini, without regard tohn pulitical opinions, and he was accordingly named us their candidate, During the winter of 1817-8. I made pretty general ni(iiiries of military, naval and political men, who had long known him, and what 1 shall snv to you iu relation to tiis qualifications is the result ol information thus acquired. It has been my habit, for the last forty years, upon Presidential elections, to address my brethren of the Whiff party, with whom, upon most important questions of national policy, 1 agree. I shall iiinke no such address on this occasion. I ao not consider that Gen. Taylor is a party candidate. I have strong reasons for believing tlmt the political men of both parties, (many, at least,) would have been glad of a morethorough-going party candidate. He is the candidate ofthc people, and therufnre to the people 1 shall addr'ss myself, presenting to them the maiu results of information derived from many and various sources, and upou which 1 place the most entire reliance. Three candidates are before you, Cass, Van Buren and Taylor. Of the private character of Van Buren aiid Cass 1 know nothing beyond what is known to the whole country. All thai I do know is that they have been office-hunters -for the last forty years, living freely upon the public purse, making, as sucn meti always do, large, very large pret-snsious to patriotism, for the sole purjioso of attaining higher honors and greater rewards. It is said that Cass held three offices at one time, and made very heavy charges for exirn allowance for service during the same period. Whether this be true or not, and if true, what explanation it admits of, I do not pretend to know. his enough fir me to know that Gen. Taylor never took a single step toward the Presidency ; that his frioiuls and neighbors, oi both political parties, were urged by a knowledge of his trunscciidant merits, to make the the nomination: that it was this under-current which compellrd the convention at Philadelphia to abandon all other candidates, and submit to the influence iu favor of Gen. Taylor. By these remarks you will observe that I am opposed, not only to Cass and Van Buren, but to all office hunters, be they of what party they max. By office hunters 1 do by no means embrace all public men, but all, or nearly all the leaders of the two great parties. I have no confidence, not the emallest, in any of them. A common share of moral principle is quite insufficient for a man to start with, who begins political life as a business. There is not one moral constitu-iou in twenty that can stand the inebriating, "Sir. ike minis andconfuiion vades thil ansemoly mil prevent heard on the important topict to kfuim rmlUA nut attention." 1 !. a. . .mi eg - is RESERVE enfeebling atmosphere of politics. In the first place it is only the meanest minds who will condescend to beg at all lor public favors. Did Washington ever descend to this? Did any really great, noble and strictly moral man ever do it? Has Gen. Taylor done it? Ambition is said to be the vice of noble minds. According to my reading and experience it is the vice of the meanest and most degraded minds. Tbe passion, in no part or particle of it, contains any love of (he just, the right and the true. Its whole texture, the warp a. id the woof and every thread, nnd the minutest elemental particles of which tho thread is composed, all, all of it is only an elongation of the selfish principle. The most selfish are the most ambitious, and in nine cases out of ten, the most corrupt. There urs numbers of this description ofjmen attached to both the great political parties that divide the country. One evil of this nature a-rises from the fact that the most selfish and unprincipled of the talented part of the office hunting corps, are generally the most popular with their parties. In fact, we know that through all time, and among all nations, from the Jewish Theocracy down to the present day, the higher classes, the rulers of the people, those whom Mr. Webster calls statesmen, and whom 1 call office hunters, have been composed of the most dissolute, unprincipled and abandoned, of all the different classes of society. Nearly all the agitations and revolutions iu society, proceed from a few cunning and unprincipled politicians. It seems to be according to the order of nature, that usually, if not always, the worst men should rise to the top. The reason that they generally do, is vry obvious. The most selfish are always the most active and vigilant. The men who are urged on by avarice, will become the richest, and the inteiiser the passion for power, the more intense and constant the effort to obtain it. The temptation to corrupt or dishonorable means, is always in proportion to the desire to obtain the end. Among the people of all nations, therefore, iu ancient or modern times, most that is corrupt and base, wicked and oppressive, has proceeded from the upper classes, or men iu power. For the last twenty winters 1 have seen this fullv illu.tlrated iu our own country. The most popular men of the two great parties in Congress, in general, are those who least deserve it. The most deserving, those who perform most of the lacor upon committees, the most worthy men and valuable members, are the least kuown to the public, in other words, the least popular. Upon this subject I desire not to be misun derstood. In the first place, 1 do not mean to apply these remarks, personally, to Cass, Van Buren. or any other individual. In the next pice, in speaking of the nature of the olllce hunting passion, I speak of its tendency and effect upon character. I mean to say til (it the passion itself, being an entirely seifish one, thrives best and grows the lurgest in homogeneous soils, in llie uiuanost and most selfish inniils. It may live and move and show sonio signs of life in the noblest minds. J know several ol the ablest men anion jj the lead ing statesmen, who have lurn shed more or less nutriment to tins passion lor many years. But tliev are unable to descend to the iricks, clap traps and meannesses necessary to make Ilium popular. In general, the most popular men are those who practice the most numerous tricks by which the people are deceived, in general, (he most worthy, strictly honest and reliable among our leaders, are the least talked of and the least thought of. In nine cases out ol ten, it Is the ojjtce hunter, tbe sturdy beggar the man so entirely selfish that he will by, nffor push ofl'eve- ry rival in ms uwu puny, wnu is iiie jjopumr j hero ot his day. Ths reason for expressing an opinion forced upon me by a residence of twenty winters in Wasliingion, is, that two objections are made to Gen. Taylor; one is that he is a military man, and one that he is no statesman. If bv statesman is intended that class of men yearafteryear urging their claims to higher 1 higher hnnnn. or ivhn llu l.nen irrnwinfr I fatt The m uth of the public purse, if l.v i statesman is intended am man who, diiectlyor not, will beg, or ask for ofhce.or allow any of his sons or grandsons to beg in his behalf.then I say that according to m experience of life, such a man is a selfish man, in whom I would notre-pose the least confidence. If such statesmen are intended, I most truly rejoice that Gen. Taylor, is not a statesman. Leading meti upon the political stage are exposed to temptations similar to those which waylay actresses upon tde dramatic stage ; ami 1 see no reason whv the victims should not be as numereus in the one case as the other. But he is a military man. There is no force in this objection unless experience has proved that military men are more likely to hurry a nation into wars than political men. History proves the reverse. Take our own history. The war of 1756, in which as colonies, we were eugaged, was the work of Lord Chatham, a statesman of the highest order. The Revolutionary war of 1776 was the work of the people of the country. The first blow struck in Ilhode-lsland was the capture of the Gaspee by the citizens of Providence.The war of 1812 was made by Mr. Madison and Mr. Clay, and the war of 1845, with Mexico, was made by Mr. Polk, and declared by tekick per which foa Ais' CLEVELAND, OHIO OCTOBER both parties in Congress. The Whigssay they were compelled to vote for it. r'orthe present argument, it is immaterial how that is. Uen. Taylor, a military man, tliovght it an unnecessary war. We have had three Presidents who have been military men Washington, Jackson, md Harrison. Perhaps Monroe ought to be added, We had no war under either, on the contrary, Gen. Jackson, by his firmness, probably prevented a war with France. In despotisms, ivhere the sole power is the reigning despot, a military ambition has sometimes been the sole cause of wars. But in constitutional governments like England and this country, wars can only be carried on by the Representatives of the people. Probably other objections have been urged by officeholders, or those who hope to hold office under Cass or Van Buren. These are all that have come to my knowledge. I will therefore, briefly consider why Gen. Taylor ought to bo elected, without regard to his political optnions. There is no prominent subject which concerns the welfare of the country, which is, or ought to be made for some years to come, the suuject ot dispute between the two great parties of tho day. The question of bank or no bauk has been settled. Gen. Jackson saw further ahead than nearly all the Whigs, and most of his own party. 1 opposed his election, among other things, because I considered a bank an indispensable agent of the Government. The question of internal improvements and of protection of our domestic industry, are questions that can never be settled by political parties. The agilation of them by political parties, will forever prevent the permanent settlement of them. Both are questions of money making. Whether internal improvements shall be paid for by the General Government or the States, is mainly a question of how the payments shall be made, and not by whom they shall be made. In both modes of payment the money must come from the people. My opinion is that the payment devolves upon the General Government, and not upon the Stales. But these improvements never will be made by the General Government until a large portion of the poo-pie of both political parties, so decide. To ii ake it a political question is forever to pre vent the permanent establishment of either policy.I So in regard to the tariff One party favors the free trade, the other the protective principle. My reason for the latter is not that it tends to encourage the increase of manufac tures . It is not a question of manufactories or no manufactories, but a question whether present and future establishments can compete with foreign articles imported at a low duty, and pay the present rates of wages. If they can, we need no tariff. If they cannot they' must either stop and throw a large portion of the labor of ihe country out of employment, or that labor must acquiesce in a much lower rale t l wages. We all know that poor families must work at low wages, if they cannot obtain higher rates. The great object of a high tariff is to enable manufacturers to pay high wages and still make a profit upon their capital. It is a law to keep up the price of wages and the prices of agricultural productions. It is emphatically tlieioorman's law; the law for men who labor, whether at the loom or on the farm. Upon no other grounds and for no other reasons do Congress possess the power to legis late upon the subiecl All the world over the laborers constitute tho most numerous and the most useful class of so ciety. It is eminently the class upon which all other classes djpend. Who produce our food and clothing? Who build our cities, navigate our ships and keep ciril government and society itself in motion? We all agree that it is the middling nnd poorer cln-ses, tho laborers of the country. The more equally the profits of the whole industry ol our country can oe aivioea aillOtltr all the IllOre durable Will be Olir free government. Capital will always protect itself. Whether it increases rapidly or moderately is of very little importance to the pormanenct of a free government. 1 repeat it; it is not the capitalist, or the manufacturer it is the poor man, the laborer, for whom, uloue, such a law can, with any constitutional propriely.be passed. But strange as it may seem, most laborers are against it. The question will never be permanently settled until one policy or the other is thoroughly tried. Al present the free trade principle prevails. Lei us give ii a full and fair trial. Let the laboring part of the community see plainly and clearly that they are the objects of a beneficial protection, and they alone. When they do perceive it, and come to its support, not a politician in a free State will be found to oppose it. The question of free soil is not a party question. The fre States are nearly unanimous upon that abstract question. Some of the democratic members from the Jforlh have gone astray under I know not what influence. But the Whigs have been as true as the most ardent friends of human freedom could wish. Why, then, have the common class of people here and elsewhere forced the members of the Whig Convention to nominate Gen. Taylor? Why did that under current prevail against the partialities and preferences of political men, so BATTERY. 26, 1 848. as to leave them no choice? The answer is plain and obvious. They saw in Geu. Taylor not merely a great and successful General, but a high-minded,straight-forward and honest man, and a true putiiot. More strongly than any other man he presented to their minds the image of Washington. Both present t he same genejal outline of character, and the same mental and physicul training. Both were farmers and worked upon their own lands. Both were from the same old Virginia stock The bones of both seem to have been covered with iron rather than flesh. The presence of mind, coolness, energy of decision and promptuess of action were at the early ages of both brought to perfection by the border wars with ever watchful, cunning and ferocious savages.Both were plain in their maimers and dress, moral and temperate in their habits, exact in their dealings punctual to their engagements, and kind, generous and charitable iu their dispositions.They resemble each other, also, in this not very common habit of mind In all questious of doubt they consulted the ablest counsellors around them, obtaining the united libt of all, and then took the responsibility of deciding themselves. In this particular. Gen. Jackson resembled them both. This caution in forming opinions, and firmness in acting upon them, is a never-failing attribute of great minds. Whv, let me ask again, have the common class of people forced a Whig Convention to noiiiina.e Uen. laylori It was because lhv saw in him qualities th precise opposite of those of the great mass of politicians. Me is a modest, unassuming man. He neither makes long speeches, boasting -of his own patriotism and attachment to the bet interests ot Ihe country, nor any parade ot his valor, but whenever an enemy of his country has been seen upon our border, another savage or civilized, whether in masse as solid and dense as the Persian at Marathon, or as skilful, compact and disciplined as the Freuch at Waterloo, from the time he was a boy of sixteen down to the battle of Bueua Vista, there has Taylor been seen in the front of the battle, infusing into the bosoms of the officers and men who loved him, his own great, glorious and patriotic spirit. ' It was because they saw that he was a religious man; not making large professions, long prayers, wilh a gloomy, austere seventy on the outer man, while avarice, the love of office and display, ruled his whole heart and spirit, but religious in that wide and catholic sense which the whole family of man, civilized and savage, recognise as the great chain through which the beneficent spirit of God is infused into the heart of man. It was because they saw him kind and generous to the poor without ostentation; in the midst of wealth without display; in the midst of peril and danger, alwavs in its front; when worn down with labor aud almost sinking under privation and fatigue, giving up his bed 10 a sick or wounded soldier, and when called to give an account of victories achieved mainly by bis large spirit and patriotic soul, ts his officers and men ascribing all the merit and all tlie praise. It was because the whole body of American people saw in Gen. Taylor a strictly moral man, moral from the instincts of his noble and elevated nature; because they saw that he possessed resolution, a Btrong will, a high and pure intellect every ready to distinguish Ihe right from the wrong. Did you ever see a man who performed fully and without display all these great moral duties, at all times, and under all circumstances, who was not also a man of great intelligence? Accordingly all my information from men oi various political faiths is, that he is a man of strong, direct aud full mind, with much reading, aud extensive information, aud an intuitive knowledge of human churucter. I entirely accord with thi common class of people in their choice. 1 rejoice that they forced the Whig Convention to nominate him. 1 freely co lfess that I f.m delighted with the beauty, the gracefulness, the gigantic strength and entire completeness of his morul nature. All the lower appetites of our nature are held with a grasp which no temptation can loosen, which no human power can overcome. With a large fortune and a favorite of the higher classes, he is the friend, the benefactor, the companion and the advocate of the poor. Surrounded bv influences whicn seldom fail to inflate our vanity, he is plain, modest and unassuming, and apparently unconscious of his own elevated station. Absent from home fur months and years, and courted and flattered by admiration from a source which seldom fails to melt the integrity of ordinary men, he is not onlv a kind and affectionate, but a true and faithlul husband. His word once pledged becomes the law of his action. His consciousness of duty once settled, becomes the compass for his whole voyage of life. While in all tilings he lives up to the strictest rules of a sevore and self-denying morality, ho makes no professions of superior sauctity.uo parade of austere virtue. Neither does he set himself up as the judge of the conduct of others. On the other hand, he is kind, charitab! and generous in the extreme to those whose physical or moral elements are too weak to resist the temptations thus beset our path of life. He is a man, a whole man, and nothing but a Opinion of Zachary Taylor. "I have no private purposes to accomplish no party projects to build up no enemies to punish notbiag tj serve bul my country." " I reiterate what 1 nave often said, lain a Whig, but not an ultra Whig." "The power given by the Constitution to the Eiee-I'tive, to interpose his veto, is a hiuh conservative ower, which should never be exercised esccpt in cases of clear violation of the constitution, or manifest baste and wantof jonsiderution by Congress." 'The personal opinions of the individual who may I nppen to occupy the Executive chair, ought 'not is c ontrol the action of Congress upon questious of dc-i icstie policy.nor ought hisohjeciionsio be interposed hcreuuestions of constitutional power have been ettled by the various departmentsof govcrninent.and rciiuieaeed in by the people." "Upon the subject of the tariff, the currency, the i mprovement of our ureal highw ays, rivers, lakes and .arbors, ihe willofthe people, as expressed through heir Representatives in Congress, ought to be respect-Mi, and carriedujut by the executive.'' "War, at nil times, and under all circumstances, is i national calamity, to be avoided, if eompatiblewith i.iiioual honor. "Tho principles of our government, as w ell ns i .rue policy, are opposed to the subjugation of.othe nations, and the dHincinbermcnt of other countrieshy .ouquest. for, in the language of the (treat Washing mx, 'Whyshould we uuitourown to stand on foreii irround "These are my opin ions upon the subjects referred to by you: and any reimrts or publications, written or ver-from any source, ditrerins in any essential pnrtic-ilar from what is here written, are unauthoi ir.ed and ""rue" I. TAYLOR. NO. 1 5. man. From the soles of his feet to the crown of his head he is covered all over with a pano-ply, which the whole power of his sensual nature cannot break through, nor all th precious slones of the temple of fame, tempt him for a moment to surrender. There he stands almost solitary and alone, among the public men of his age. There is his life, through fortv years of temptation, without a vice. There "are his great deeds, through forty years of heroism and victory, aud there the great conqueror himself, with the humility of a virgin convert of the cross. He is on his way to another countrv, with christian hopes of crowns brighter thau you can bestow, and of rewards more glorious tnau his poor merits deserve. While he remains among us, if the people of his native country call him to new and untried duties, he will set aboul their performance with the ardor that belongs to great minds, and the humHity that belongs to meek spirits. He is bound to no party by previous pledges, he is opposed to no party by previous hostility. '1 hrouch his whole military life he haB fought for his" country and not for popularity. Through his whole political Ire he will labor for the highest interests of the people, and not for the pettv triumphs of a party. A W hig in his principle's, and an Amencau in his heart, it is a matter of indifference by whom he is nominated. All nominations seem to him above his deserts, and all the great duties of that exalted station, above his power of performance. But if his country calls him, he will put his hard and bony shoulder to the wheel loaded with the destinies of this great and brilliant empire. Had this illustrious man chincod to have b en bom upon Grecian laud twoor three centuries before the birth of Christ, and performed for forty years ailhe of the services, bared his bosom in a.teuth part of the battles, gained a -tenth part of the grandeur, self-sacrifice and perfect devotion, which this greatest of all republics, and most christian of all ages, has received al his bands, he would have been wor-shippsd as a patriot and hero.as a god, in every island and promontory of Grecian rule; he would have shone forth to this day, through the long night of intervening barbarism, as one of the great lights of Grecian history. Had it been his fortune to have been born a Roman instead of an American citizen.the same hard life, mild, modest, but humble, toilsome aud laborious virtue, would have secured for him the warmest place iu every Roman heart, the most lofty tiioiiuinenu nt linm.. .,.,. - ....... aud a name aud fame as lastimr as th Hm,,. language itself. But here in this age of Christian iaht ,! knowledge, in this country of practical virtue and lofty patriotism, where the advancing glories of a higher civilization than the sua ever shone upon, are calling forth the admiration of the calm philosophers, the profound statesmen aud the military heroes of every nation of the g.obe, the hero of twenty hard" fought battles and illustrious victories, tbe partaker of the hardest fare with the humblest soldier, the eulogist of every brilliant achievement excent Ina own, the man whom his rivals honor aud respect, and his friends love and admire, is not worthy of out highest mark of gratitude, be. cause to bis other great and rare virtues, he has added that ot an enduring militarv re nown! Is this the sentiment of the American neo- ple? Will it find any favor w ith Rhode Island men? The brilliant achievements of Gen Tax-In r n the field, have brought into view his orexr and noble qualities as a man; his justice and generosity, his temperauce and self-denial, the great and glorious sacrifices made for his couutiy for a period of forty years, and the almost unequalled good sense aud sagacity which has enabled him to maintain a most exact di- iplme through the hearts of the common sol- . iers. All these great and illustrions virtues belong to the mau. They were made known to us through the spleudor of his militarv genius. Will you do me the favor, mv fellow-riti- ens, or some of you, to inform me how the great aud illustrious qualities of Mr. Cass and Mr. V an Uureu have been made known tn us? It would be an aspersioti upon the iroorl sense t.fihose who nominated these gentlemen w oiinuic iuL-.ii ucBLiiuiB oi great ana patriotic qualities. With both I have had a limir. ed and narrow acquaintance for twenty v. and while I most willingly beartesumoiivi'otheir geiille manly deportment and easx" it not flattering manners, yet it has piohably been a concurrence of extraordinary circumstances that has hidden from iny view (although both have been iu office over forty years) their great and patriotic qualities. Gen. Taylor has been in the back woods and swamps and uKn our distant frontier most of his live long life, exposed to the tomahawk and rifle ol the savage, in order to protect us, our families and our property. His great and noble deeds as a man as well as a soldier, have come to us, over thousandsof miles of desert country. The notes in his praise have been swelled out into one grand and sublime harmony, by men of all ranks and grades, by' rich, aud by poor, by officer and by soldier, by"men of all political creeds and all religious proflSs. ions. jo hired advocates, no chartered presses, no hungry expectants, joined in the nni-ve rsal song of praise. It was telegraphed fronj